


Hands. Eyes. Heart.

by story_telling_sage



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Getting Together, Hoh!Cait, Multi, Neurodiversity, Polyamory, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sign Language, Stimming, college shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-04 23:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16798861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/story_telling_sage/pseuds/story_telling_sage
Summary: Dex, Cait, and Tango weren't a pairing that should work. But they did. Here's how:Tango watched. Dex listened. Cait touched. Somehow, they just fit.





	Hands. Eyes. Heart.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [B_Frizzy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Frizzy/gifts).



> Written for the wonderful Frizzy for the Polya Epifest exchange! They asked for rarepairs, emphasis on rare, and self discovery which both happen to be my niche. I'm not exactly sure how my brain settled on Dex/Cait/Tango but it's certainly rare. I hope you enjoy! Also check out the edit I made to go along with it, that I'll link eventually after all the posting happens. 
> 
> A huge shout out to everyone on the Discord server for helping keep me motivated when this fic kept fighting me but especially to alicean, Denois, eggplant inspector, and entirely_too_tall for being my lovely (if albeit last minute) betas. Special thanks to Rainne and Pau for running this wonderful event too! 
> 
> If you like the fic, check me out on tumblr at omgtranspoindexter where I blog with the Shitty to my Jack, Griffin.

Tango had sharp eyes. People didn’t always catch it, with how many questions they asked but Tango saw more than they let on. For instance, when Dex stumbled over their pronouns Tango noticed. He also noticed the jar Dex placed on the table three weeks into the term labeled Pronoun Practice. He noticed Dex writing down “Tango, they/them” every time he stumbled again and again. He noticed that Dex would throw the jar at Holster when the captain would mess up too, the way he would hold his teammates accountable so Tango didn’t have to. (Because somehow, he knew Tango  _ wouldn’t _ . Pronouns were hard and Tango was too new to risk their rage.) Tango noticed how Dex  _ cared _ . 

Tango noticed how Will cared about the others too. He noticed when Dex brought Nursey his favorite mug of tea as he struggled through his latest literary analysis essay. The way he helped Bitty in the kitchen, moving with adept hands always handing the right ingredient without needing to be asked. The way Dex gave things away. Tango thought to themself, isn’t he exhausted? Has anyone given  _ him _ something to hold? So Tango did. 

Tango handed Dex a warm cup of coffee before his computer science lecture. They brought him extra wrapping tape, snacks for after practice, things to hold on to. So Tango noticed when Dex’s hands would move, restless, anxious. Tango saw the way he tried to stop them and went:  _ oh _ . They knew how to help that. So a week later, when Tango was bringing Dex coffee, he slipped a fidget cube into his hand as well. 

“It might help,” Tango says, and before Dex could respond they were gone. They didn’t see the thoughtful look Dex sent after them, didn’t notice the way his lengthy, slightly crooked fingers curled around the stim toy, but in that moment, Dex noticed too. 

~~~

Dex didn’t have great eyes, and that wasn’t just in reference to his prescription glasses. He knew numbers, calculations, and written rules. He knew how to help Bitty in the kitchen because the measurements were written down or Bitty gave him very clear instructions. He knew how to help Ransom study because their anxieties followed similar rules. With the new frogs, Dex had to write new rules for their interactions. 

Whiskey was easy. He was quiet. Standoffish. The rules for Whiskey were to leave him alone until Whiskey decided he wanted their company. Dex could understand that. Samwell was  _ a lot _ . He wasn’t Ransom and Holster. He didn’t feel the innate need to befriend. He understood the need for distance and Whiskey was obviously still finding his footing. Tango was different though. Tango, Dex thought, was a person who didn’t follow the rules at all. They talked when they wanted to; they talked about what they wanted to, they used the energy in their hands freely and happily and seemingly without worry. (Dex thought about the rules he grew up with, the ones he was still unlearning, and he thought about how no one seemed to have taught Tango those rules. The thought made him smile.) But then again, sometimes the way Tango looked at Dex made him think:  _ oh _ , they understand. 

It started with coffee, with anxious hands, and a fidget cube. Dex rethought his rules for Tango. So he tried to watch and adjusted accordingly. He saw how Tango chewed on his sweatshirt sleeves, on his wrists, on pen caps, and anything else he could find. He saw how Tango talked and then… stopped. Because people weren’t listening. So the next time Tango started talking, looking like they were vibrating with the urge to  _ talk talk talk _ , Dex sat down with them and listened. 

~~~

Tango watched. Dex listened. Cait touched. She was a very tactile person. No one knew this quite as well as Chowder. To the greater Samwell population, Cait and Chris were probably dating and in a way they were. Except for the caveat that Chris was, in fact, gay and that Cait more or less fell on the aro spectrum nine times out of ten. However, they were both very tactile lovers. When they landed, bodies tangled together, on accident for the first time, it felt right. Cait had been dancing her way around her teammates, trying to establish boundaries and just ending up touch starved instead. Chris, fresh off a separation from his high school boyfriend back in California, was in the same boat. 

That, and, well, it didn’t hurt that Chris was from California and they both rooted for the same teams. Whenever they had the time and whenever there was a game on Chris would bully one of the upperclassmen (and by bully, Cait meant ask sweetly and smile so excitedly they couldn’t say no) to drive them to the nearest sports bar that served soft drinks to minors desperate to catch a game. So when one day he dragged a scowling, flannel-clad hockey player along with them she assumed he was an upperclassman too. But Chris -- he called him Chowder, Cait felt the name roll around on the tip of her tongue and tried to decide if she liked it -- lacked any of his anxious hovering he normally displayed around the older boys. 

Cait thought it would upset her when the redhead followed them inside even if he did drive them. But she was decidedly glad when she felt the bar get louder and louder and went to tug her hearing aids out and slip them into her purse. Red Head looked at her, cocked his head curiously, and then started moving his hands in an almost nervous, hesitant motion that caused Cait’s eyes to light up. 

_ You sign?  _ she asked, and the redhead started smiling too. 

~~~

When Dex had left a pamphlet in Tango’s bookbag, this wasn’t what he had been expecting. The little pink, white, and blue paper looked up at Tango inviting him to a trans student meet and greet they were holding at Annie’s that weekend. He didn’t know how Dex knew, while the team was great, he missed the company of people like them. That’s how they ended up here, sitting next to one of the prettiest girls they had ever seen.

Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but she was still really cute. 

“You’re on the hockey team, right?” she asked and Tango nodded. “That’s cool. I know a few of your upperclassmen. I’m Cait, volleyball. She/her.”

“Really? That’s so cool. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to play a sport with a ball instead of a puck. I mean, I played baseball for like a year when I was in grade school but that doesn’t really count and you guys have to run so fast while playing volleyball, that’s sick.” 

Pause. Wait. They were forgetting something. Oh.

“And I’m Tony. But they call me Tango. My team, I mean. They/them.”

Cait smiled and stuck out a hand, one that Tango gladly shook. 

“Nice to meet you, Tony. So what brought you to Samwell?” It was a leading question, one the led down too many tangents for Tango to really keep track of. They knew they were talking too much. It didn’t take a genius to know that. But Cait was still smiling at him so Tango kept talking. They talked almost the entire night until even Tango was almost out of words. 

“I don’t envy you,” Cait said, laughing gently. “But I’m sure you don’t need me telling you secondhand horror stories. There’s a reason I decided to stick with bio instead of a chem minor and that reason’s name was Organic Chemistry.”

“What are you majoring in, then?” Tango asked. They picked at the lid of their coffee cup (Vanilla latte. Cait was drinking a peppermint mocha. Bitty would like her.)

“Literature, with a heavy influence on Gender and Women’s Studies,” she said. “Speaking of which, I should probably head back to campus. I’ve got an essay I promised myself I’d put a dent in tonight.” 

“Can I walk you back?” Tango asked, and then automatically felt themself wince. “I mean, walk back with you. Have you walk me back. Walk together. Not because you’re a woman, or because---” Luckily, Tango’s babble was cut off by Cait’s laughter. It wasn’t a mean laughter, it was soft. Tango wanted to hear more of it. 

“I’d love someone to walk back with. Thanks, Tony.” 

By the time they got back to campus Tango had a new number saved in his phone, and maybe, just maybe, a new friend too. 

~~~

Between Chowder and Dex, Cait easily became a near constant feature at the Haus. This became even more so their sophomore year. With Chowder having a room there and Dex doing everything he could to get away from his roommate, the Haus was the most logical place for them to all hang out. (If “them” also included Nursey, well, Dex only complained because it was fun to get Nurse riled up. It was a mutual thing.) Sophomore year also brought along with it the addition of cuddle piles to their friendship dynamic. Dex had been cautious at first, not used to being somewhere that cuddling was done and also not wanting to mess up whatever it was that Cait and Chow had going on. He wasn’t going to be that guy, even if he really did like Cait in some manner of speaking. 

By the end of the second semester, Cait had spent a good portion of her time hanging off of Dex instead of Chowder and when he had tried to protest, Cait had just stared him down with the unimpressed look of hers. (“We’re not dating. I’m aro. He’s gay. Join the cuddle pile, Poindexter.) It helped that Cait was helping him find out just how he liked her, or how he liked people in general. There was a world of words out there that small town Maine didn’t know the meaning of. Dex was starting to really like the word asexual. And if he really liked the word queerplatonic when he looked at Cait, well, he didn’t say anything quite yet. He didn’t know how.

About a week before midterms during fall semester, Dex was used to getting texts that consisted of “cuddle pile” and nothing else. What he wasn’t used to was Cait bringing along someone who wasn’t Chow or Nurse. However, when he arrived at the Haus and found Cait piled on top of a very confused but comfortable looking Tango, he didn’t question it too much. Dex liked Tango, sue him, and he knew that Cait and them would get along like a house on fire. (He knew that as soon as Dex stumbled across Tango trying to teach themself sign language that he was right.) Cait didn’t have much in the way of patience that day because as soon as Will got into the room, she was motioning for him to join them on the couch. Dex didn’t waste much time after that. When Cait wanted something, it was best that she got it as soon as possible. 

“Hi Tango,” Dex said, because he wasn’t a complete heathen. And then he flopped right on top of the Tadpole. Okay, so maybe he was a bit of a heathen. But by the way Tango snuggled right into Dex’s shoulder, they didn’t seem to really mind. Cuddle piles were a very good addition to Dex’s sophomore year. 

~~~

Tony had descended into what Cait could only define as conspiracy theory hell. The NSA agent living in their laptop had to be getting worried at this point. Cait was surprised their NSA agent didn’t reach out to Cait’s NSA agent to start an intervention. Cait would start one herself, but this was too entertaining. 

“I knew Connor made a mistake showing you Buzzfeed: Unsolved,” she said with a fond roll of her eyes. 

“Whiskey introduced me to something beautiful. Now move over, Dex is coming over and he’s bringing pie.” Cait did exactly that, only standing up when she heard the knock at Tony’s door that had to mean Will had arrived. 

Cait had gotten used to Will, the way his presence set her at ease, they way she knew he would understand her if something went wrong. The way he was easy to lean against. It had taken him a while to get used to Cait. To her little touches and the cuddle piles, but she was glad it hadn’t scared him away. Will was a good guy and watching him interact with Tony just cemented that fact. 

Watching the two of them bicker about different theories, plausible or implausible, was definitely worth putting off her essay over Emily Dickinson. It was too entertaining not to watch the two hockey players that Cait was growing more and more fond of playing off each other. After all, they were her hockey players. And maybe, one day, they’d be something more. But for now, well, they were just idiots. But her idiots, nonetheless. 

~~~

Dex liked Tango. Or, at least, Tango thought he did. Because Tango watched, and more importantly, Dex  _ listened _ . Cait listened too, and more importantly, she  _ understood _ . Dex also liked Cait. And Cait liked Chowder. Platonically? Romantically? Tango wasn’t sure. The only thing they were sure about what that they liked Dex  _ and _ Cait, and Tango wasn’t completely sure that was allowed. 

“Of course it’s allowed,” Whiskey said when Tango inevitably asked him later that night. The words might sound snippy to anyone else, but Tango knew that was just how Whiskey’s words worked. Just like Tango had too many, Whiskey had too few. It’s why they worked so well together. “It’s called polyamory, here, text Shitty I’m sure he has some links that might help. He has, like, fucking links for everything.” 

If Tango spent more time looking through the websites that Shitty sent him than working on his Spanish essay that night, well, who could blame them. If their sweatshirt sleeves were completely ruined due to the amount they were anxiously gnawed on, well, they’d just steal another one from Will until Foxtrot could patch it back up for them. (It was Tango’s thinking sweatshirt. Honestly, the sleeves weren’t meant to last, but they refused to get rid of it.) Though, Bitty did look at least a little disdainful when Tango showed up in his room after practice that day wearing the garment. Tango, however, had more important things on his mind. 

“What do you do when you like two people?” Tango asked and Bitty sighed before ushering them into his Beyonce-ified room. What the conclusion seemed to be, after talking to Bitty and then Whiskey again and then perusing some more links that led to articles that led to internet rabbit holes that were only somewhat relevant, was this: you talk to them. And then you establish boundaries. Then you make rules. Well, that would be good. Dex liked rules. With that in mind, and questions filed away, Tango texted Dex and Cait in a group chat and asked to meet up that weekend. 

~~~

When Tango asked them all to hang out, Dex didn’t think it was that odd. But, when they all ended up in Annie’s at 1:00 in the afternoon, something felt wrong. Dex knew Tango. He knew their body language and the way they held themself and the difference between the nervous chewing and when they chewed to stim. The frayed shirt sleeves and the band-aid clad hands caused little alarms to start ringing in Dex’s head as soon as he saw them. Cait, if anything, caught on even faster than Dex. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked before they even had a chance to order coffee. Tango went through a series of facial expression that later would make Dex laugh. They went from startled to bewildered to amused to vaguely worried in a few seconds flat. 

“Nothing’s wrong. I just, I wanted to talk. To you guys. Together.” Dex raised his eyebrows. Yeah, Tango was worried about… something. But maybe it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe he just wanted some sage advice from the upperclassmen or something. ‘Sage advice.’ Sure. 

“You promise nothing’s wrong?” Cait asked, if just to be sure. The smile Tango gave her seemed enough to placate.

“Promise,” Tango said, and maybe if Dex was better at reading people he’d be able to know if the hockey player was lying. Dex’s chest did something funny at the thought of Tango lying to him. It did something even worse at the idea of Tango hurting. It was different from the stomach flips he had assigned to Cait’s fingers brushing against his, the feel of Nursey’s laughter. The same flips that occurred whenever Tango came to him to him to talk about hockey, about horses, about Austrian painted Easter eggs, about their chemistry homework. It was more like the clenching his fists did when someone went after Nursey on the ice, when someone forgot Tango’s pronouns and it didn’t seem like an accident at all. When some asshole had something to say about Cait’s disability accommodations and---  _ Oh _ . 

That explained it. Dex wondered if that’s what Tango was there to talk to them about. If they had been feeling those stomach flips and heart beats too. He wondered if Tango knew about words like aromantic, asexual, and queerplatonic too. 

“Then let’s get coffee,” Cait said, and Will couldn’t help but agree. Coffee would be good right about now. 

~~~

“I wanted to ask you guys on a date,” Tony said, slowly for once in their life. Carefully. Measured. Cait could tell they were weighing each word, trying to not let it all come out in a rush. Cait nodded, letting them keep talking. Will was watching Tony too, his gaze just as cautious as Tony’s words. This could go bad, but Cait didn’t think it would. Call it a gut feeling, call it the fact that she knew these two, that they were  _ hers _ . In the face of the resounding silence, Tony seemed to take it as an invitation to let themself say everything, if not quite all at once then just mostly so. 

“Both of you,” they said, fingers intertwining with their pant legs and holding tight. “To the Boston Science Museum. Because I like you. Both of you. And you both like science? And Connor said that’s allowed. It’s called polyamory? I’m not sure, I’m still reading the articles Shitty sent me. But Bitty said it was important to communicate. So this is me… communicating. I’d like us to go out. On a date. If you’d like?”

Tony was looking at them both with such wide earnest eyes that Cait knew her answer immediately. Without question. Tony was good at starting conversations, at keeping them going. Cait was good at getting to the point. And Dex, well, he wasn’t very good at conversations but he was good about knowing what they needed, even if what they needed was to talk.

“Okay,” Cait said, before they could start saying more. It was just that easy, for her at least. Judging by the state of Dex’s eyebrows, this was going to need to be a longer conversation with him. But that would be okay. 

“Okay?” Tony said, like a question. Like they weren’t sure, which, fair. 

“Okay.” Cait said again, to let them both know that she was sure. “What do you think Will?”

Will worried his coffee cup between his hands, chewed on his upper lip, and stayed silent for a moment. Cait reached over to squeeze Tango’s hand while they watched Dex have his internal debate.

“Okay,” he said, after a long moment. When he looked up from the coffee cup with that shy, hopeful smile of his Cait knew Tony’s stomach did the same funny thing that hers did. “I mean, Chris already thinks me and Cait are dating. And it’s not like whatever relationship I ended up in wasn’t going to be… a little strange.”

“Strange is good,” Tony said and Dex’s smile turned into a grin. 

“Yeah, we’re good,” Cait confirmed. She reached her other hand across the table to find Will’s and squeezed. Yeah, they were definitely going to be good. There would be rules and negotiations and boundaries discussed later, but for now a date sounded nice. 


End file.
